200 new homes to be built in Downham Market, despite concerns GPs won't cope
It's planned to be the first phase of a larger overall estate on Downham’s outskirts
A 226-home expansion of Downham Market has been approved by councillors, despite concerns over whether the town’s GP and dental surgeries will cope.
The new development will go up on farmland off Bridle Lane and Lynn Road, at the town’s northern edge and close to the village of Wimbotsham.
It is planned to be just the first phase of a larger overall estate on Downham’s outskirts.
The project had already received permission in principle in 2018, and at a meeting on Monday, December 5, West Norfolk borough councillors approved the finer details of the 226-home phase.
Downham Market Town Council had warned however that “the town currently has insufficient social facilities e.g. schools, GPs, dentists to support the size of the development”.
Conservative borough councillor Martin Storey echoed those concerns at the meeting, saying it was a “common question” he and other local politicians had been asked.
An officer said that NHS services were a national matter and the council was keeping health authorities updated on the growing demand for services in the borough.
He admitted that even he had been unable to get a dentist locally, but he added that on the question of education, the developer Persimmon Homes would be making a contribution of more than £1m to the area’s schooling provision, as well as contributing to library services.
The planning committee’s Tory chairman, Vivienne Spikings, agreed: “I think a lot of us are worried about GPs and dentists, especially when you struggle to ring and find all the problems – and then you see the scale of what it is, at other health centres, it is rather worrying.”
Conservative councillor Colin Sampson later said the development had the best-designed road network he had seen in 30 years.
A representative from Persimmon Homes said the scheme would include an overprovision of open space and a mix of different housing types, which she said will create a “varied and inclusive community”.
Some 45 homes will be affordable and a 770sqm allotment will be included on the site.
Green councillor Michael de Whalley, seconded by independent Jo Rust, tried to vote the application down, arguing that the plans should include a multi-use games area for children.
An officer warned that such a reason to refuse the application would not be strong enough if Persimmon Homes appealed their decision.
Their attempt failed and councillors then voted the scheme through.